Brooks Brought My Feet PureBliss!!

It only took three weeks, eighteen runs, and two months of waiting for them on pre-order, but I can now safely say with utmost certainty that I am smitten with the Brooks PureProject. Sure, it may be a little excessive to be in love with a line of running shoes, but come on, seriously, if women can obsess and swoon over every possible variation of footwear and roadies can jones over bike porn, then a mythical creature with a running addiction can be smitten with his new kicks!

The Brooks PureProject has a few different options out there to sample, the Connect, Grit, Cadence, and the Flow. Aesthetically speaking, the whole line is just slick. The design is sleek, the accents, colors and construction are well thought out, and you really can’t find much, if any, fault with any of the offerings. The color palettes are outstanding. Personally, I hate the use of white in running shoes and the ONLY shoe in the whole line that features any white is the women’s Connect, which is fine by me. Save that one model, the women’s line is solidly done in variations of blue, black, grey, and a brownish color for the grit. The men’s side is a sweet potpourri of green, grey, and black … straight up BALLER! Love it!

Now, as for my personal testing of the line, I am only covering two of the four. I’m a bit apprehensive about testing out the PureConnect due to my gnarly busted up toes (thank you soccer and basketball for breaking them a few times and making things difficult). The Connect is a featherweight, minimal shoe with as little material as is necessary, which just may be a bit less than I can handle at the moment. The PureGrit is the trail running shoe and is one that I definitely will be sampling at a later date, don’t you worry. That leaves the PureCadence and the PureFlow, which I’ve been pounding on and putting through the intense rigors of my White She-Devil prescribed workouts. Seriously, the variety of paces, terrain, and weather conditions I’ve put these two pairs of shoes through are more grueling than the field testing Michelin puts their tires through.

First, maybe not the first to arrive but for review, are the PureCadence. I’ve progressively been working my way down to more minimalist shoes over the last two years, spending most of the last year rocking the Ravenna and this one is a nice full step even further down. They are insanely light, flexible, breathable, and have a more traditional-style sole compared to the rest of the line. The new Internal PDRB ramp (for smooth transition and midfoot running) and Nav Band at the midsole are a great step forward, although the Nav Band is so loose around my slender feet that it doesn’t really do anything at all.

The PureCadence performs fantastically. I loved it during my speed work and shorter tempo runs, but it has taken some getting used to for my longer miles. It is extremely comfortable and it has just enough structure to make this pronator happy. Now, with them adequately broken in, I definitely am enjoying them a lot more. The Cadence has officially found its place in the rotation, but is not the creme de la creme of this line, in my opinion, that honor belongs to the PureFlow.

BEHOLD!!!! The PureFlow! Seriously, when I first popped open the box and the bright green was almost glowing through the brown paper they were wrapped in all I could think was, “This looks like it could be gravy!” No, not THAT “gravy” … you know who you are for thinking it! As soon as I pulled these out of the box I could hear choirs of angels and cherubs singing in full chorus … oh yah, it was a moment of epic proportion, like Arthur pulling the sword from the stone epic. The PureFlow has the same Nav Band seen throughout the line, which I once again didn’t notice, but has what feels like a wider toe box, less lacing, and perhaps the best cushioning I’ve felt in a running shoe. The wider toe box I’ve gotten used to a bit, but I do wish that the lacing went a little further down the shoe, as my dainty, narrow feet really like to be hugged a little bit more and not have so much room at the forefoot that I’m slipping around in them. Regardless of those minor issues, they look and feel badass and, as we all know, it is REALLY important to have badass looking shoes out on the course.

On the road, the Flow performed far beyond my expectations. They are extremely light, responsive, and did I happen to mention that they may have the most exceptional cushioning of any shoe I’ve sampled. I’ve done numerous speed workouts (800s, fartleks, tempo runs) in them and have loved every one of them. I even did my 18-mile “Dress Rehearsal” pacing run in Chicago in them and just crushed it feeling absolutely amazing, like running on marshmallows and enjoying the sweet, sugary deliciousness with my feet!!! Only minus that I noticed with this particular model is that, much like the Green Silence, they don’t like getting wet at all. The material used is so light and stretchy (almost spongy) that once they start taking on water the material expands and loosens up and no matter how I tighten them they still have a lot of play.

With two down and two more to go in Brooks’ PureProject, thus far I have to give them high praise for the advances they’ve made not only stylistically, but on the technical side as well. The Cadence and Flow are absolutely fantastic and have lived up to all the hype leading up to the line’s release. Stay tuned for my review of the Connect and Grit in the coming weeks!!